Cost of Adoption
The one question I hear a lot is, "How much is that going to cost?" Many prospective parents don't realize how much adoption really does cost. It is common knowledge that for mothers giving birth, insurance is there to assist with doctor visits and hospital bills. However, adoptive families are on their own essentially when it comes to affording their child.
While there are grants and tax write-offs available to adoptive families, many of these aren't available until the family has either completed the home study or sometimes even been placed with their child. Unfortunately, a lot of money is due before those steps.
Christian Adoption Services has been very clear with their costs and fees, providing the families with a handout at the very first information session so that everyone is well aware of the costs of adoptions.
There are a number of fees due throughout the process. I have broken these down for you below, based on the information given to us through our agency.
Application Review Fee - We paid $25 when we finished our application and submitted it.
Application Acceptance Fee - This $250 is due when the agency informs us that there is a spot for us in their program and we come off the waiting list.
e-Adopt Access - This is also due when we come off the waiting list. e-Adopt is a great online platform that allows us to digitize all the paperwork for the adoption. And if you know me at all, you know I love me some digital access. Paper is for the birds!
Home Study - This is where they send people into our home to make sure that we have enough space for a baby and that our home is safe for a baby to live and grow up in. This costs some money, but $1500 is actually on the cheaper end from what we found in our research.
Admittance and Birth Mother Fee - Once our home study is complete and we have been approved on that end, we pay this money for admittance into the placement program and for birth mother expenses. These expenses could be for anything, but it is so important to ensure that the birth mother is taken care of and has access to the things she needs. She is making the biggest, most selfless choice there is, and we are happy to help her in any way we can.
Placement and Birth Mother Fee - This money is due when we are placed with our sweet baby! This helps cover all the legal paperwork and such, as well as help with the birth mother's needs at the time of the birth. This is the largest chunk of money due, but it is also the end! It means that we have our precious little one!
The additional fees are for the other things we need to have in order to complete our adoption. We need to take some training courses to prepare us to be adoptive parents. There are some different situations that arise being adoptive parents than being biological parents. These courses will help us navigate through these situations. We also have to create photo books sharing our family with potential birth mothers. Birth mothers use these books to make the difficult choice about the family they see their child being raised with. They are a vital part to a successful and inclusive adoption.
Total cost for a domestic, newborn adoption through CAS is around $29,680. And this is one of the lowest costs for adoption in the country! Many are much higher, around $40,000 or more. We are thankful that CAS feels that those called to adoption should be given a chance to fulfill their calling. They do a great job keeping their fees lower than most.
While we agree that you cannot put a price on love and family, it is important to think about. We need all the help we can get to make this dream a reality for us. If you are interested in donating to our adoption fund, please visit our Crowd Funding Link page for more information!
While there are grants and tax write-offs available to adoptive families, many of these aren't available until the family has either completed the home study or sometimes even been placed with their child. Unfortunately, a lot of money is due before those steps.
Christian Adoption Services has been very clear with their costs and fees, providing the families with a handout at the very first information session so that everyone is well aware of the costs of adoptions.
There are a number of fees due throughout the process. I have broken these down for you below, based on the information given to us through our agency.
Application Review Fee - We paid $25 when we finished our application and submitted it.
Application Acceptance Fee - This $250 is due when the agency informs us that there is a spot for us in their program and we come off the waiting list.
e-Adopt Access - This is also due when we come off the waiting list. e-Adopt is a great online platform that allows us to digitize all the paperwork for the adoption. And if you know me at all, you know I love me some digital access. Paper is for the birds!
Home Study - This is where they send people into our home to make sure that we have enough space for a baby and that our home is safe for a baby to live and grow up in. This costs some money, but $1500 is actually on the cheaper end from what we found in our research.
Admittance and Birth Mother Fee - Once our home study is complete and we have been approved on that end, we pay this money for admittance into the placement program and for birth mother expenses. These expenses could be for anything, but it is so important to ensure that the birth mother is taken care of and has access to the things she needs. She is making the biggest, most selfless choice there is, and we are happy to help her in any way we can.
Placement and Birth Mother Fee - This money is due when we are placed with our sweet baby! This helps cover all the legal paperwork and such, as well as help with the birth mother's needs at the time of the birth. This is the largest chunk of money due, but it is also the end! It means that we have our precious little one!
The additional fees are for the other things we need to have in order to complete our adoption. We need to take some training courses to prepare us to be adoptive parents. There are some different situations that arise being adoptive parents than being biological parents. These courses will help us navigate through these situations. We also have to create photo books sharing our family with potential birth mothers. Birth mothers use these books to make the difficult choice about the family they see their child being raised with. They are a vital part to a successful and inclusive adoption.
Total cost for a domestic, newborn adoption through CAS is around $29,680. And this is one of the lowest costs for adoption in the country! Many are much higher, around $40,000 or more. We are thankful that CAS feels that those called to adoption should be given a chance to fulfill their calling. They do a great job keeping their fees lower than most.
While we agree that you cannot put a price on love and family, it is important to think about. We need all the help we can get to make this dream a reality for us. If you are interested in donating to our adoption fund, please visit our Crowd Funding Link page for more information!
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